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by whatswiththemustache
Summary: What if Eren's world - Humanity's Last Stand - was actually a virtual reality? What if the residents of that world didn't know that their entire reality was a creation of technology? And...what if that world clashed with the VRMMO and death game, Sword Art Online? Canon AU in which everything you've seen in the animes is all part of a larger, much more horrifying truth...
1. The Crash

**So. Hey again, new crossover here. I've been thinking about this idea for over six months now, planning and wanting to write it...finally, I just thought, whatever, I'm posting this. I absolutely love the idea and feel like it's going to be awesome. Prepare to experience a crap load of plot twists and sad backstory...(there's so much backstory)...**

 **Summary : What if Eren's world - Humanity's Last Stand - was actually a virtual reality? What if the residents of that world didn't know that their entire reality was a creation of technology? And...what if that world clashed with the VRMMO and death game, Sword Art Online? What if...**

 **This crossover will be able to fit completely within canon prior to the divergence points - it's a canon AU, and there's so much backstory that hopefully, it will all make sense and fit perfectly...which is what I simply love...**

 **Rating : ...let's just go with T for now...**

 **Categories : Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Adventure, basically probably everything...**

 **Setting : -For SNK - story fits within canon up to/including episode 16 (season 1)**

 **-For SAO - fits within canon up to/including Season 1, episode 7**

 **As for POV - I'm going to try to imitate the SAO light novels a little in the way of writing style, so whenever it's from Kirito's POV, I'll be writing in first person. Whenever it's anyone else's POV, like Eren or Levi, it'll be in third person.**

 **The first part of this chapter is a bit like a rewrite, but bear with me - it's crucial, and contains the moment where literally everything changes...**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter One**

" _Eren! Stay with me, boy! Wake up!"_

 _A single flame flickers, contrasting starkly against a dark background –_

" _Stop it! Please – you're scaring me –" A terrified gasp breaks through the darkness. "I don't understand what you're trying to do!" A hazy image swims into focus – trees, red light filtering down through a sparse canopy of branches overhead. His father, with a strange and unrecognizable light in his eyes, raises his arm menacingly, brandishing a long needle._

" _You don't have to! Just give me your arm!"_

" _No! You're insane – Mom's death pushed you off the deep end!" The flame dances against the darkness, illuminating a simple key that dangles before his eyes._

" _Shut up!"_

" _No – let me go –" His father looms over him, a terrible scowl mangling his features as he forces Eren down to the ground._

" _Damn you, this is the only way! – You cannot forget the key! Whatever you do, you must reach it! It's the way to the truth–" Burning pain erupts in his chest, his bones – everything is on fire –_

" _One day you'll understand!"_

* * *

Eren snapped back to attention with a silent gasp, blinking in confusion. The world around him was flowing, filled with sound – the clatter of hooves striking hard ground, the creak and groan of the heavy covered wagons, as well as the excited swell of voices babbling all around. _Oh, right –_

On his left and right, neat rows of houses and buildings lined the road. The villagers who lived in this small, outlying district were gathering at the sides of the path, all craning to get a good look at the soldiers passing through. Some were eager and excited – others, not so much.

Directly ahead, meanwhile – was a massive, seemingly endless gray surface. Wall Rose.

Of course, it wasn't actually endless – but on horseback, so close to its base, it appeared as a gigantic mass obstructing half of the entire sky, casting a shadow over everything. The Wall was fifty meters high, but from down here, it seemed to be at least a hundred. Far down at its base was a relatively small square of darkness – the gate. Their destination – or, their springboard.

 _Huh – that's weird…_

Eren looked down at his right hand slowly, flexing his fingers around the leather reins that he held. _That memory…why am I remembering that now?_

* * *

 _The key is placed carefully in the palm of his hand, gleaming in the dim red light –_

" _Listen to me. It's vital that you keep this key on you at all times. Whenever you look at it, let this thought flood over you: I must return to that cellar!" His eyes widen – a wave of pain flashes through him –_

 _Of course…it's not exactly irrelevant, either._

* * *

It was true that the memories were distracting – they were almost like flashbacks, abruptly sucking Eren back into the past without warning or choice in the matter. Eren certainly didn't enjoy it, but the more he thought about it, the harder they hit him –

* * *

" _I'm going to give you a little something to make you forget for the time being." His father holds up a narrow syringe, slowly drawing clear liquid in through the needle. "I'm sorry – I wish there was more time to explain all this."_

 _When he turns around, there are trails of tears running down his cheeks. His voice wavers as he continues. "When the time comes, now – know that you_ must _reclaim Wall Maria and head for the cellar." His father advances forward, brandishing the needle – Eren backs away slowly, cradling his arm, eyes wide in fear._

" _It won't be pleasant – but in my heart, I know what I'm doing is for the best!" He leans over Eren, tears falling like raindrops to the ground. Each one reflects the red light that is falling from overhead, casting a bloody shine to everything._

" _When the ability confuses you, let their memories act as your guide!"_

 _Red light and dark trees – the needle comes down, and he flinches away, falling heavily – Eren's fingers claw at the dirt beneath him as he tries to escape, kicking and screaming –_

" _Eren! Stay with me, boy!"_

* * *

"Hey, Eren, you okay?"

A soft, familiar voice cut through the memory – Petra, leaning over in her saddle with a concerned look aimed his way. Eren jumped slightly, catching his breath and nodding.

"Huh? Y-yeah," said Eren quickly, straightening. "Of course!" He took a breath, squaring his shoulders.

 _I'm ready._

Those memories – maybe there was a reason to remember them now. In any case, the thought of them and of what his father had told him would keep reminding Eren of why they were there. Of exactly what they needed to accomplish. After all – this was it.

This was Eren's chance. His first time to venture into titan territory…

His chance to take back what belonged to humanity – and, to get his revenge on every single titan that dared to cross his path – was here.

A rough voice rose above the murmuring of the crowd, catching everyone's attention. "The titans in the vicinity have been lured away. Gate opens in thirty seconds!"

 _This is it._

The horse beneath him shifted restlessly, eager to run – all around him, everyone was tensing, likely steeling their nerves. Half of the Scouts here today were probably scared out of their minds – in fact, it would be foolish to assume that anyone there wasn't at least a little scared. If there were, then _they_ were the fools.

 _I'm not going to pretend that I'm not scared…but, there's no way that fear could ever keep me from going._

He wasn't an idiot, and he wasn't some rookie, this time. Eren had seen combat and he _knew_ that fear was important. The others could call him a suicidal maniac all they wanted – this time, there was no way that Eren was going to let any titan get the better of him.

 _No… I'm going to make them pay!_

"Oooahhhhhh!"

The strange sound interrupted Eren's thoughts, causing him to jump slightly and turn to his left. His gaze found the source in an instant. Just a few feet away from Eren, peering through an open window were – two young children, wide eyed and grinning – they couldn't have been older than six or seven. One of them had a wide gap in his smile where his tooth had apparently fallen out.

"Awesome – it's the Scouts!"

"See that symbol? They call it the Wings of Freedom!"

"Ohhh – so cool!"

Eren stared for a long moment –

Those wide eyes and awed expressions – had once belonged to him. _And now…_

Eren sighed, smiling at the two – their eyes widened even further, if that was possible, and they waved at him excitedly, grinning. It was only too easy to see – both of them were completely enthralled, obviously dreaming of the day when they, too, could become one of the Scouts.

"This is it!"

The voice rang gruffly through the air, heavy with finality.

"The day has come for humanity to take another step forward! Now, let's show those titans exactly what we're made of!"

A roar of approval erupted – nearly all of the Scouts threw their fists high into the air, some brandishing their blades exuberantly. Eren didn't – he kept his hands tight on the reins, and noticed that the members of the Levi Squad surrounding him didn't celebrate like the Cadets, either. _Now's the time to be serious, more than ever._

"OPEN THE GATE!"

An enormous, ear-splitting rumble began just as the heavily fortified gate started to slowly rise up from the ground – even from twenty meters away, Eren could see the huge clumps of dirt tear up from the ground as the spiked bottom of the gate was ripped upwards. The creak and groan of the mechanisms drawing it up from the ground was nearly deafening, but the voice was still, somehow, louder.

"FORWARD!"

Every horse leaped into motion, neighing and rearing –

"It's officially begun – the fifty-seventh Recon mission!" It was Commander Erwin's voice, as firm and authoritative as ever. "Scouts – MOVE OUT!"

The words reverberated in the thick air, despite all of the sound and noise that remained – Eren held his breath as the gate revealed a gaping, square hole in the Wall – light shone through, making everything on this side of Wall Rose seem dimmer. The horses raced forward, and the gateway flew closer and closer –

It was just seconds until they were flying through – Eren tilted his head back, watching the dark underside of the gate slip away and reveal blue sky –

The sky was the same, of course – the cluster of buildings gathered close to the gate were identical to those on the other side of the Wall. Except, of course, for the fact that they were destroyed, some nearly demolished by the titans – other than that, it was the same.

The Scouts raced forward into the territory within Wall Maria, and despite the sameness of it all, Eren couldn't help it –

A wave of excitement and pride washed through him, along with a burst of adrenaline.

 _I'm finally doing it._

The horses grunted and huffed as they ran all out. Racing further away from the relative comforts of the Wall, still a few excited voices could be heard through the rest of the Scouts' heavy anticipation –

It was then.

That moment – everything changed.

The clear light that flooded down from that bright blue sky somehow faltered – the entire world seemed to flicker as dimness replaced sunlight for a moment, only lasting a second before switching back again. A few seconds more, and then – the sunlight completely vanished. Instead – a blood red glow appeared, casting a dark shine over everything.

Scarlet light – a sunless sky –

 _What?_

It seemed to take few seconds more before any of them could respond to the change – suddenly, the sound of hoof beats pounding on the ground was overpowered by cries of shock and confusion, with someone near the front of the group calling for order –

Eren's heart raced, a cold feeling spreading across his body –

 _What is this? Could it be another attack – the Colossal?_

He ground his teeth together, starting to lift his right hand towards his mouth –

"Eren – don't do anything until we know the situation!" Levi's voice. Somehow the Captain still managed to sound calm, even now.

"But –" _Know the situation?_

Eren scowled at Levi's profile, anger surging – they'd barely even gotten outside the Wall, and now this? Surely they had to do something – but, so far, the only thing threatening them was this strange red light…

That – and…

" _ERROR DETECTED._ "

The voice was impossibly loud, emanating from everywhere all at once – it was impossible to tell if the speaker was male or female, old or young. Monotonous and completely devoid of emotion, the words pressed on Eren's eardrums uncomfortably.

" _ERROR: SYSTEM MALFUNCTION._ "

… _System… Malfunction?_

The words sent a spell of utter confusion across the entire group, it seemed – everyone was scowling in bewilderment, looking around frantically for the source of the voice. Tilting his head back to look up at the sky, a feeling of dread stirred in Eren's gut. Up in the red heavens was only blankness – no clouds, no sun. Just a strange, disembodied voice…

More voices, familiar ones, quickly erupted–

"What the hell?!"

"What on earth…system malfunction? What's that supposed to mean!?"

"What's going on? What do we do?"

The frantic voices of his fellow Scouts grew louder and more insistent as the long moment drew out – Eren could only clench his jaw and continue searching the landscape around them, curiously devoid of titans or anything suspicious at all –

From beside him, Petra's tense voice rose up to join the rest – "Captain! What should we do?"

Levi didn't move, didn't respond – turning back in his saddle slightly, Eren scanned the faces of the Levi Squad and all the elite Scouts riding beside him. They all looked shocked, overwhelmed – afraid. For once, the situation was beyond what they were used to dealing with. The tightness gripping at Eren's lungs constricted and he gulped for breath, choking down the panic–

The next words that came did nothing to help. In fact–

" _SYSTEM FAILURE. ABORT – AB-B-O…"_

The toneless voice faltered, grating on their ears as it turned grainy and mechanical-sounding–

And then – time froze.

Everything halted, every movement slowing to a standstill in a fraction of a second. Eren's thoughts, as well, shuddered to a halt, leaving an unresponsive blankness filling his mind; he didn't even try to move, as he could not even begin to think about it. Everything stopped – the horses seemed to hover in place, legs splayed as they raced over the ground unbothered. Or, everything hadn't _stopped_ – it was as if they were trapped in one single millisecond, with time completely paused, and at any moment everything could snap back into place, sending them flying once more–

But it didn't. Instead–

The entire world – everything around them – started to dissolve.

Light erupted around Eren's body, seeming to come from _inside_ him. For a moment the thought of his previous transformations, with the light that sparked from his torn flesh, flashed through his mind. But – around him, light exploded from the bodies of everyone else as well. It grew and intensified, outlining each silhouette with blinding clarity –

And meanwhile, everything was dissolving. The world was overrun by _cracks_ , or fractures – every surface was covered in grid-like lines, mapping out the landscape around them, the buildings, the trees. The colors from everything faded, leaving their surroundings gray and lifeless–

With a soundless, reverberating _noise_ that vibrated through his very core–

The world around him shattered, sending white light exploding from beneath the jagged fragments of it all.

His entire body was overcome by that white-hot light, blinding him, along with a feeling of weightlessness–

There was no gravity, no sensation except for that light, floating feeling – everything was white, and still glowing brighter–

And then, nothing.

* * *

 **So. From this point on, everything involving the characters from SNK...will diverge from canon. What's next? Well...if you want to know - leave me a review! And tell me what you think. I'll post again soon if I know people are reading this :) Oh and also - the cover art for this is my own work :) I posted it on deviantart also..and I'll probably put up a link on my profile eventually...**

 **Anyway, thanks for reading! Leave a review!**

 **~whatswiththemustache**


	2. The Message

**Chapter Two**

Aincrad, 70th Floor, August 2024

Deep in the dungeons of the sixty-eight floor – a well-known, enormous shattering sound rang out.

In response, a few seconds later a huge, collective sigh – almost as loud as the other sound – was released.

"Uuaaahhhhh…"

Everyone's voice was filled with relief. It was in the boss room of this floor, and we had just defeated the boss. It had been a long, hard battle – the entire clearing group, myself included, was exhausted. Luckily, it had been a successful fight for us – we didn't lose a single player. It was probably sad that we could be so nonchalantly relieved to not have had anyone die – but, in this world, we were all used to it. Above our heads was the reward for our efforts – a giant, hovering icon floated in the air, displaying the word – "Congratulations!" This floor was cleared.

Everyone stood around catching their breath, many drinking healing potions – thinking of that, I looked up towards the upper left of my vision. My HP bar was yellow – I probably had about 40% remaining. Not too bad, but still – not good, either. My HP was my life-force, literally – nodding to myself, I quickly bought out a healing potion myself and drank it.

"Whew! That was one tough fight!"

It was the lighthearted, carefree voice of my friend Klein – of course, right now his voice sounded heavy and weary.

"Yeah…" I turned to look at Klein, who was leaning over with his hands on his knees. "We did good, though."

Despite the exhaustion that he'd shown just seconds ago, Klein nodded at my words and straightened up, throwing a fist into the air with a triumphant expression. "Yeah! We all made it! Hah!–"

Always so overly optimistic. That trait was probably one of my favorite things about Klein – he certainly wasn't a downer. That was more my job…smiling wryly, I called out to Klein who was in the middle of his energetic celebration.

"Careful with that – you wouldn't want to twist your ankle and lose the last of your HP, would you…"

Klein only deflated slightly, placing a fisted hand on his hip with a grin. "Eh, whatever, Kirito." He shook his head and puffed his chest a little. "I probably have more HP left than you, anyway. After all, you're the one who's always throwing yourself into the middle of the battle so carelessly–"

Now it was my turn to be upset. "Eh!? What are you talking about – I'm always totally in control!"

"But you're the one sitting on the floor catching your breath…"

"Better than dancing around looking like some kind of weirdo –"

To those around who didn't know either of us so well, it probably sounded like Klein and I were enemies of some sort. Of course, we weren't – our mock-fighting was more playful than not, even though we could sometimes say some pretty mean things to one another. It was a kind of banter that I personally enjoyed more than a lot of things – but, not something that I could enjoy often. That was because of the choice I'd made nearly two years ago. It was irreversible, no matter how much I privately regretted it, and so, I could only hope to talk casually with Klein like this every once in a while. Or, not so casually…

As our "playful yelling" got too annoying, another friend made his way over and broke into the conversation. Agil, the huge axe-user who looked a lot scarier than he really was, shuffled closer to the two of us and scowled as he crossed his enormous arms.

"Do you two need someone to crack your heads together or what?"

Both Klein and I snapped to attention, acting like Agil was some kind of high-ranking officer, and shook our heads rapidly – then, relaxing, we both broke into laughter. Agil started chucking too, shaking his head slowly. "You guys sure are strange…"

Klein continued to smile as he wiped imaginary sweat from his brow. "Sure, sure." Looking around, he apparently noticed something and looked back at me and Agil with more concern in his eyes. "Hey, you guys, we'd better get a move on. Looks like everyone's heading for the next floor."

As I got to my feet with a slight sigh, it was easy to see that Klein was right – the large clearing group was beginning to move as one towards the staircase at the end of the room, which would take them to the next floor. Sometimes, the players who'd successfully beaten the boss would linger in the boss room for a long time, even hours, before moving up to the next floor. That was usually because they'd lost a friend or party member in the fight, though. This time, everyone had survived, so it wasn't really that surprising that everyone was ready to move on so quickly.

I definitely had no objections – as always, I was just as eager as the next person to move on and get to work on the next floor. The empty boss room was a sign of victory – another battle won – but as a gamer, I could never afford to be sentimental and waste time hanging around in a place that no longer had any value. Watching the players start to disappear up the spiraling stairway, I nodded and set off along with the rest.

As we began to ascend up the grey, rather steep set of stairs, the voices of Klein and Agil floated up from behind me, along with the stomping sound of many boots pounding up the passage.

"I wonder what Floor 71 will be like…"

"Yeah, I can't wait to see if there are any good quests..."

"Oh, and what about new materials? Ah, I can just imagine the upgrades…"

Listening to their excited, cheerful words, I can't help but smile somewhat ruefully. This atmosphere, this anticipation – it's the reason that people play MMOs. That feeling of advancing onto a new level and being excited about seeing what's new and what can now be achieved – there's nothing else like it, not anywhere else.

It's funny that, after everything, the players of SAO can still feel that. It doesn't happen often. Most of the time, everyone is more likely to be serious and somber – especially whenever a player dies – but every once in a while, they'll get like this and show that same excitement and adventurous attitude that we all used to be so familiar with. I can't help but smile whenever I see it here – it's a good thing to see. Despite everything, we're absolutely all still gamers – and, we _can_ still enjoy this world.

"Hey, Kirito!" Klein shouted to be heard, only a few steps behind me. "What're you planning on doing first on the new floor?"

I paused for a second, taking a moment to think.

"Ahh…get something to eat, probably. Floor 70 had some pretty crappy restaurants."

Klein's voice sounded as exaggeratedly incredulous as ever as he shouted back at me. "You're going to _eat_?! Oh come on, Kirito, there's a whole new floor open and the only thing you can think about is your stomach?"

 _Fufu_ \- I laughed internally, but put on a frown, turning back at Klein sternly. "Well, what are you going to do, then?"

The katana-user's eyes lit up with resolve as he lifted his fist into the air like before, grinning. "I've got very high expectations! I'm going to – wha…huh..."

Suddenly Klein stopped, turning his head quickly with his eyes moving to the top left of his vision. Agil paused too, watching him, and so did I – teetering on the stairway a few steps above, I stood still as Klein swiped his fingers to bring up his menu and quickly pressed a few buttons.

"…Oh… I've got a message…"

For some reason I hadn't started moving again yet – there must have been something telling me to stay and watch Klein as he skillfully manipulated his menu, blinking when he brought up the new message. Whatever it was, keeping me frozen like that – it didn't matter. I didn't have time to feel bored or impatient before Klein's eyebrows dove inwards to the center of his forehead in a frown – suddenly, before I could ask what was wrong –

– _karriin_ …

The notification sound went off like a tiny bell, drawing my eyes immediately up towards the upper left-hand corner of my vision. There – was a small icon, floating beside my HP gauge. New Message.

 _How strange…_

This message was the kind of message that could only be sent by a registered Friend. Except – nearly all of the people who were registered as my Friends were already here, as they were part of the assault team. The only other person I could think of was…

Before I could open my menu to check the new message – I inadvertently looked around, scanning the faces arrayed on the staircase below me. Almost half of the players had stopped, turning their faces up to look at the place where their HP gauge should be – swiveling around sharply, I could see that up ahead, it was the same. A large amount of players had stopped to pull up their menus, checking out what must have been the new mail…and, the people that weren't, were instead looking around in confusion, starting to get frustrated and asking concerned questions.

Back below – Klein was frowning with a confused look in his eyes, making an uncertain sound in his throat as he continued to stare. His eyes were just about glued to his menu. "Wha…what the heck…"

 _All these messages, all at once…_

 _Something's happened._

It was surely that. Something big, something important – knowing that, I wasted no time in bringing up my menu and hurriedly opening the message. As I'd thought – it was from Argo the Rat, another person who was registered as a friend of mine. More than just technically, she was certainly something like a friend – but also, an information broker and a very knowledgeable person.

The message that I was so eager to read – was short. Only a few words appeared on the screen.

 **[Argo:**

 **Get to the Town of Beginnings as fast as possible. ]**

That was all.

I stared at the uninformative message for a few seconds that seemed to stretch into minutes, my mind blank. _Town of Beginnings?_ _As fast as possible..._

Just what was all this about?

Feeling even more confused than before, I raised my head to see Klein still reading over his message, eyes racing back and forth across his screen. His lips moved as he muttered something under his breath, still frowning with frantic eyes. Beside him, Agil was staring with an irritated look. Apparently he hadn't received any messages–

I took half a step towards Klein, suddenly urgent. My skin was crawling – I could feel, beyond a doubt, that something must be wrong. "Klein! Hey – what's going on!?"

Klein's eyes only flickered up to meet mine for a split-second – it seemed that he couldn't tear his gaze away from whatever was written on that message. It must have had some sort of information – my annoyance at being in the dark made me wish that mine had said something useful.

"Klein?!"

"…It's…I don't…understand…" He muttered the words at first, barely audible, before suddenly swiping his hand through his menu screen with an angry expression – it immediately vanished, dismissed. With his hands balled tightly into fists, Klein scowled with gritted teeth. "It doesn't make any _sense_! How could this be –"

"How could _what_ be?" Agil, too, was annoyed – in fact, all around, the buzzing sound of whispers and mutterings was growing louder. A feeling of unease settled into the air, thick and heavy.

Klein was breathing heavily, staring at his clenched fist. "…It…it said…"

With his head bowed, I couldn't tell if Klein was in fact angry, or confused, or what else. He slowly spoke, with a suddenly blank voice.

"…that we should all go to the Town of Beginnings…because – there are _new players_ there."

At first – it took a moment or two for the meaning to sink in.

–New players.

… _impossible._

As I stood frozen – their voices continued to wash over me, speaking while I still couldn't even think.

"What? That's crazy – who said that?"

"Some friends of mine – they've got a house down on Floor 3 – but, it's kind of impossible to make something like that up…"

"Well, what're all these messages that everyone seems to be getting right now, anyway?"

"Must be the same…"

Everyone's voices began to get louder, swelling up with confusion and panic. All the while, I silently thought –

 _New players, huh…_

It was easy to see why everyone was reacting as dramatically as they were.

When this death game first started almost two years ago, many people kept up the hope that they'd somehow be rescued – as unlikely as it seemed. For some people, the idea of literally being trapped in a game just made no sense. For a long while, they experienced this world in a blur, always expecting it to abruptly end like a bad dream – even the people who were more realistic still had hopes. People would meet at restaurants, eagerly talking about a mutual dream – that somehow, people from _outside_ would come here, logging into the game and bringing us all out again. As ridiculous as it was, the dream was shared by a lot of players for quite a while.

Eventually, of course, it must have died out. After a while, everyone probably realized the obvious – it just didn't make sense for something like that to happen. I myself already knew that, and never thought much of it – but the players around me certainly did, for a while. But once they all figured out that no one was coming to rescue them…then, they must have also realized something else, too. That was – if any new players were ever logged into this game, it wouldn't mean rescue. More likely – it would mean, death.

Because – if new players were coming into this world, for whatever reason, that also meant that getting out was even further away…

So at that moment – as Klein and Agil continued yelling with panicked voices, talking with the rest of the players I didn't know as well, I forced myself out of my stupor.

If anything – I knew how to clear up this confusion.

Turning abruptly to face the stairway spiraling up, I shot forward – using all of my hard-earned Agility and Speed, I leapt up the stairs three steps at a time. I weaved my way through the crowd of bewildered players who stood around, blocking the stairway annoyingly – but, there was no time to make them move. It only took a few seconds, anyway, before I was near the front of the group, where I knew _she_ would be.

Just like I'd expected, there she was – standing with a slight hunch that she'd probably deny immediately if pointed out, she was furiously swiping and flicking around a series of screens and popups on her menu. With her magnificent, glittering armor and radiant chestnut hair, she was standing so that she was facing away from me. But, I was sure that if I could see her face, there would be quite the angry scowl there.

By now, I was sure enough of our relationship to be able to call her a friend – despite, or probably because of, her strong spirit and quick temper, I sincerely liked this girl. And just then, she was the highest-ranking member of the most important guild present. Rushing towards her, I called out with a voice only slightly out of breath–

"Asuna!"

The sub-leader of the prestigious guild Knights of the Blood Oath didn't turn even when I called out – but, I noticed, several people standing nearby definitely did. Even now that I should be a familiar face with the assault team, they felt the need to scoff at me and clench their teeth. _Of course, I guess that might be because she's their leader, too_ – I thought, idly wondering if perhaps next time I should try addressing her as 'san' to get them to stop growling at me…

As I came to a stop beside her, bringing a gust of air that ruffled her clothes slightly – she only glanced up at my face for a second, before looking back at the menu that hovered before her.

"A-Asuna?"

Maybe in response to the concern in my voice – Asuna let out a puff of breath, exasperated. Still, her eyes remained tight on her menu as she spoke quickly. "Hold on, Kirito –"

She continued to manipulate her menu at an almost ridiculous speed. I was left with no choice but to wait, with an anxious and apprehensive feeling in my gut. It was only a few moments more before Asuna sighed decisively, straightening – she dismissed her menu with a wave of her hand.

I had to ask. "Well? What's going on? Is it really –"

Asuna turned to look down the descending stairway behind us, making an angry sound in her throat as she slowly nodded. "Well, you probably know just about as much as I do, right now…but…" Her head bobbed fractionally as she gulped, squaring her shoulders – for a short second, she shifted just slightly turn her gaze so that her liquid amber eyes could meet mine. "Apparently it's true."

 _True_ – I was about to open my mouth to speak and ask more questions, but Asuna quickly turned back towards the rest of the players arranged all the way down the spiraling staircase. Standing straight and tall, she didn't look worried at all – just as fiery and determined as she ever did. I could only take a small step back, watching her address the crowd.

"Listen up, everyone! You probably all already know – there's been an emergency in the Town of Beginnings," declared Asuna firmly. Her voice echoed off the stone walls, louder because of the narrowness of the room. "As far as we know, it's true – there are new players in SAO. It's not yet known why, or what they're doing here – so. We need to get there as soon as possible. Everyone! Use your Teleport Crystals! Let's go!"

Her delicate hand reached into the pouch hanging from her hip, and I imitated her movements – in just seconds, it seemed that everyone had done as Asuna had told them. The stone stairway filled with those words, over and over again –

"Teleport! Town of Beginnings!"

And with that – the sound of a million bells chimed urgently, along with the sound effects of all our crystals shattering. Instantly, a pale blue light sprang up, engulfing the entire space – pressing closer, it faded to white. The world melted away.

* * *

 **So...I decided to post the next chapter, just because...I love this story. :) I hope you're liking it as well! Please review and tell me what you think! I haven't written the next chapter yet but I will definitely hurry up and do it if I know someone other than myself is looking forward to it. :)**

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **~whatswiththemustache**


	3. New Players

***BTW – names? Is it Erd or Eld? Gunter or Gunther (or Guntra?)? And is Levi technically a Captain or Corporal? I keep trying to look this up but seem to always get mixed results. I've never read the manga though so… If anyone could help me out, then I can make changes and fix whatever's wrong. Thanks!**

 **Chapter Three – The New Players**

The blue light of a teleport always seemed to shine on forever. With that blinding glow, the weightlessness that I felt, the loss of all sense of time – it certainly did feel endless. In this instance, even more than usual.

When the world rearranged itself back into order, a once-familiar sight met my eyes. Just seconds after I felt my feet touch solid ground, a small notification interrupted my vision – not that I needed it. The words were plain and white, telling me exactly where I was. A place I hadn't been in a long, long time.

Floor 1, Town of Beginnings.

We had all teleported to the Main Plaza, otherwise known as the spawn point. It was a place that I'd opened my eyes to see countless times during the beta test, back when I could fight and die as if it didn't matter. I had this courtyard memorized.

Except – now…

It wasn't the same. Because – at the center of the open area, gathered into a tight knot like a pack of wolves, was…something new. Something impossible, so much that the sight sent a wave of icy chills across my body.

That tight group was made up of about a hundred people, most of them wearing some sort of uniform – tan jackets bearing some emblem, although the symbol varied; many of them also wore some awkward, clunky-looking equipment consisting of huge metal boxes worn on the hips. Some of the people at the center of the group actually looked more like the average 'peasant' – they wore regular shirts and pants, without weapons or any sort of uniform. There weren't many of them, though.

Uniform or no, every single person in that group had something in common – they all looked completely and totally unnerved. Some were looking around in bewilderment, eyes wide and mouths gaping – others grit their teeth, scowling in fear. And, those on the edges of the group – all of them, undeniably, looking much more dangerous than the others – stood poised to attack, glaring outwards and brandishing plain, straight and deadly-looking blades. _Two_ blades – each person held two, one in each hand.

I stared, my mind blank, along with the rest of the players who'd accumulated on the edges of the plaza. Impossible…but true…

There were new players in Sword Art Online.

* * *

That burning, white blankness – seemed to last forever. Time meant nothing – every emotion, feeling and thought was wiped from the mind, seared away.

And suddenly – it was over.

When Eren's feet ended up on solid ground once again – rather than noticing the sensation of regaining gravity, it seemed that it was just instantaneous. One second, there was nothing – and the next, he could suddenly feel a hard surface pressing against the soles of his boots. Just at the same second, he realized that the blinding white light from whatever _that_ was had been replaced with another vibrant light, mixed with varying colors and hues. His senses were flooded with abrupt information, all at once; it was truly overwhelming. Without even realizing it, Eren squeezed his eyes shut, ducking his head and noticing a growing pain centered on his temple.

When the brightness had somewhat faded, Eren's eyes ended up open again. What he saw – took a moment to be understood. When it was…

Three things. First, his eyes immediately latched on to the closest and most familiar thing around him - an array of figures surrounded him, creating what seemed like a blanket of tan and white. Soldiers - survey corps soldiers, at that. The sight would have been comforting, but a second later, he took a closer look.

They were soldiers – his comrades, his friends. But something was wrong. On every face, all Eren could see was tension – Petra, crouching slightly with her teeth gritted fiercely. Eld, eyes narrowed in suspicion. Mikasa, standing directly in front of Eren – her eyes were reduced to slits, her face twisted by a scowl; both of her blades were drawn, Eren realized with a start. Levi – the captain was standing just a few feet to the right of Mikasa, turning his head as he glanced around, almost searching for someone – his stance was tight and tense, knees bent as if he were ready to jump at any moment.

 _What's going on?_

Eren was beginning to get the feeling that he'd missed something important. And so, he forced his eyes to widen despite the brightness, and he looked past his companions.

The next thing he noticed – people. A crowd, dozens of unfamiliar faces – they leapt out at him, strange and almost unnatural. What was with all those bright colors? Elaborate clothes, shiny armor, ridiculously impractical hairstyles. Eren balked, just looking at them – and who were they, anyway?

And how did…

But that's when the memory came back to him. _ERROR_. Red light, sunless sky. Everything – dissolving.

 _What the hell happened?!_

Eren's heart jumped into his throat as he glanced around with fresh panic – where _were_ they? All he could see was exotic-looking buildings, bright green plants, bright blue sky, strangely bright faces – too unnatural, too different. What was this place – the Capital? _What was that?_

And suddenly it was as if someone switched the sound on – as if he'd been underwater and now, he was abruptly back on dry land. Frantic muttering filled the air, thick and dull like the buzzing of insects.

"…what _is_ this place?"

"The hell happened back there?"

"Who are _they_?"

He could hear the voices of _them_ as well, though he couldn't make out what they were saying; it was just a quiet murmur of barely-concealed panic. They were scared too – the thought came and went, and Eren found his hands reaching for his blades. _This isn't right_ –

Suddenly Levi's voice broke through the muttering, low but still somehow clear. "Everybody shut up," said Levi slowly, still staring off at the crowd of strangers. "…And group together. Just stay calm."

"Levi," whispered a soft voice from Eren's left – it was Petra. "Do you have _any_ idea…?" Her voice trailed off, and Levi's continued silence seemed to answer her question.

"It's obvious – we've been abducted." Gunther's voice was low, aimed deliberately at just those who were in the near vicinity. "Drugged, somehow – it would explain all that, back there. Hallucinations."

"That doesn't explain where we are," hisses Petra quietly. "I've never seen a place like this–"

"Quiet!" Levi snapped – there was something in his tone that said he was serious, even though he _always_ was. Eren heard all the muttering from his fellow soldiers fade into silence again – but, not exactly silence. Beyond their tightly-knit circle, the whispering continued – that, and a sudden flurry of noise. Footsteps.

Eren craned his neck to get a better view, because there was something coming – someone. From across the strange courtyard, at a sort of opening between the buildings, emerged a dark shape. It took form in seconds – dozens of people, marching together in a brisk and hurried way. They all wore matching suits of armor, dark grey – one man led the group, his steps out of time with the others.

Eren watched as everyone around him tensed, and he did the same – in seconds, the new group was standing before them, only a dozen meters away. All the other people around backed away, looking towards the armored people as if they were an authority. The man in the lead took a final step forward, brandishing an elaborate, expensive-looking spear, and opened his mouth.

"Stop! Don't move!" The man's yell reverberated through the air, loud and piercing. "What are you?"

Silence. The man's words didn't make sense, and Eren couldn't think through the tension to figure out why. After a long moment of waiting, Levi took a step forward – placing himself at the head of their group. Eren almost wanted to look around, thinking of Erwin _– is he here?_ – but that was pointless. Surely he would have spoken up by then, if he was.

"How about I ask the questions. What is this place, and who are you?" Levi's voice was calm, ridiculously so – how could he be calm, at a time like this? But then – listening closer, Eren thought he could hear the tension underlying his words. Just then, Levi was doing his best to keep the situation calm and under control – _just like back then, when I accidently transformed while reaching for that spoon_. Eren watched, silent, as the man in armor raised his spear slightly, as if in defense – around them, the whisperings of the crowd grew louder.

"I order you to tell me, _what is your purpose here_?!" The man was beginning to sound desperate – panicking. Levi didn't seem fazed at all – his voice grew cold and sharp.

"Our purpose is to kill titans, which was what we were about to go _do_ before you brought us here. So, I repeat – where is here, and who are you?"

At that point the man faltered – he stumbled back, glancing around as if he were looking for answers, before squaring his stance and raising his spear. "If you do not answer my questions, then I will have no choice but to attack! Is this an event? A program? I – could you be – _players_?"

The muttering around them stopped, fading into complete silence.

"Look, I don't know what the hell you're talking about," said Levi. "The hell do you mean? Where are we? And if you don't mind, I'd prefer to keep the _attacking_ to a minimum. We're on a bit of a timeframe, you see."

Suddenly the silence of the bystanders was broken – the muttering leapt up again, and soon a few angry shouts could be heard. "Stop playing around! Just tell us what you're doing here!" "Why are you here – to kill us? You sure don't look like players!"

 _Players?_ The fog of confusion in Eren's mind refused to lift. This place just wasn't making any sense, and neither were the people there – and if they didn't figure things out fast, then things would soon get worse.

Eren watched as Petra quietly moved to Levi's side, whispering unobtrusively in his ear. "We've got to do something – this is about to get out of hand. They outnumber us."

Levi tipped his head in a small nod, before raising his voice to speak to the entire courtyard. "This is beginning to look like some sort of misunderstanding, and as for whose _fault_ it is – well, that's yet to be determined. But we're not going to get anywhere this way. How about we all put our weapons down and–"

"Do not think we will let you deceive us!" yelled the man in piercing tones. "We won't be beaten – we have survived here for two years already! We won't fall for any tricks or schemes now–"

"Alright, just calm down –" Despite Levi's words, everyone was starting to tense up – the soldiers around Eren were reaching for their blades, some starting the draw them out, and Eren was more than tempted to join them. Except – Levi… their captain turned around to send a scowl back at the rest of them. "Stand down!"

The armored man was inching forward, clenching his spear tightly between his two hands with an angry growl. The array of men behind him were raising their spears as well, looking ready to charge. "I won't risk it – not if you refuse to admit your identity – we won't die here! Not now–!"

And suddenly – then man was running towards them, hefting his spear. There was a roar of sound – the crowd around them, Eren's fellow soldiers, the man and his group of fighters – maybe they were all yelling, screaming at the same time. A flash metal glinted as Levi drew his blades out in an instant, and then there was the sound of dozens of blades pulling free from their sheaths – a sharp, cold, thin sound. Eren's hand had reflexively gone to his mouth – but then a familiar form was pushing against him, black hair obstructing his view – " _Don't, Eren_!" – for a moment, there was just noise.

But a second later – from somewhere, a burst of blue light erupted – it seemed to pulse, over and over again.

"STOP!"

The courtyard fell silent.

Eren pushed Mikasa out of the way so that he could see.

Everything looked like it had been frozen. The armored man was standing off-balance, as if he'd stumbled – his spear was lying on the ground a few feet away, while Levi remained with his left arm outstretched, his blade shining dully. In the short moment that had passed, he'd knocked the spear out of the other man's hands – but no one else had started fighting. Everyone else had turned away, looking back towards the far right of the courtyard – at something impossible.

Eren hadn't noticed before, but the other side of the courtyard had a strange looking structure – a sort of monument with two pillars. Seconds ago, that had been all – but now, an entire crowd of people occupied the space as well. It was as if they'd just fallen out of the sky – Eren stared in shock. "What the hell…"

The newcomers were obviously all fighters – each of them carried a weapon, deadly-looking despite how fancy and decorative some of them seemed. They also all wore heavy-looking armor, adding to the appearance of strength. But more than anything, it was just the look that they had – almost like an aura surrounding each person. They were strong.

At the head of the group was one person in particular – the one who had shouted out, just now. It was a woman – or actually, a girl. A beautiful girl with incredibly long, chestnut brown hair – she wore a strange sort of impractical armor, consisting of a white and red uniform with a tiny skirt that ended far above her knees, long white stockings, a trailing coat and dainty-looking boots. At her waist dangled a sword – a thin, ornate sword.

Her clothes made no sense, but she _was_ a fighter; it was obvious. Something about her eyes…the girl took a few decisive steps forward before coming to a stop, glaring at everyone before her.

"Everyone! No more fighting," called the girl, eyes blazing. "We have a lot to discuss."

* * *

 **Thanks to everyone who's reviewed, favorited, read at all...thanks, everyone! I'm glad you seem to be liking this. Sorry it's taking so long - it's been a busy summer. But, I promise I will continue o keep on writing.**

 **Later!**


	4. Human Beings

**Chapter 4 - Human Beings**

"Everyone! No more fighting... We have a lot to discuss."

Asuna shouted out to the whole courtyard in front of her, with a voice that was sharp and clear. Meanwhile -

I could only stare.

–Those people... _players_...that one, was incredibly fast.

It was the short man who seemed to have taken up the position of Leader from that group. The player who stood before him, weaponless - the so-called Commander of that huge Army group - was trembling in fear, looking down to the ground. There, his spear was lying, having been knocked out of his grasp by a ridiculously fast parry. The sword that had done it...was a simple, straight-edged blade.

 _How?_

That was my thought, but I already had begun to decide - they can't be new players.

That group - if that one short man who'd swung his weapon was anything to go by, they were strong. Very strong, and so that should rule out the possibility of them being new, level-one players. Right?

Except then...what? Are they actually NPCs, with that strange uniform? An event? Something like that - an NPC-like mob army force, triggered somehow and therefore sent into the game as some sort of apocalyptic event - isn't unreasonable, when thinking in terms of other RPGs I've come across. Even though this was not a regular RPG, by any means...

But still, the idea didn't feel right to me, in my mind. Both ideas - players or mobs - seem impossible.

Before I could figure out just what or who these new arrivals were, Asuna began to take long strides in their direction. Of course I had to hurry to keep pace with her - the high-level rapier user was the highest-ranking person from the most prestigious guild present at the moment, so she was taking charge of the situation. It's not that I didn't trust or have confidence in her - I definitely did, and couldn't say differently anyway - but _this_ situation, in particular...

I remained close behind her as we marched across the courtyard. Behind me, the rest of the assault team followed at a slower pace, reflecting their shock - though of course, the other members of the Knights of the Blood Oath tried to follow close on Asuna's heels as well.

Ahead of us - the newcomers all stood as if frozen, staring at us. Meanwhile, the group of Army players had already backed away to where the crowd of onlookers nervously stood. Only the Commander remained, still standing there in shock - finally he backed away on stumbling feet, rushing towards us, the clearing group.

When Asuna brought our informal March to a halt, placing her hand obviously on the hilt of her sword, she stood roughly ten meters from the strange group. The short man who was apparently their Leader turned towards her almost uncaringly. His eyes were narrowed in a tight scowl, but aside from that he didn't really seem so concerned.

Again, the word _NPC_ darted through my thoughts like a question – but there was no time to wonder.

"Well, if you think we can have a discussion like civilized human beings, then fine," said the man in a low and dismissing tone. He still held the two blades out, with them pointing carelessly towards the ground – but, I got the feeling that if the need came, those blades would be flashing in an instant.

Asuna seemed taken aback by the man's words. She paused for a moment in silence, before speaking again with more force than ever. "That's fine with me as well," said Asuna firmly, nodding sharply. Still, her words were leading somewhere, and I could guess where. "But before we can do that, I need to know – are you really? Human beings, that is."

 _Right, so she thinks they might be players._

I could only watch for their reactions anxiously, because by that point I desperately wanted to quell that curiosity myself.

The man said nothing for a long moment – only his scowl grew deeper. Behind him, however, all of the others of that group did show reactions. Some looked around in confusion, a few whispered to one another, while several towards the front of the group looked angrier than ever. I watched, amazed, as one woman with red-brown hair mouthed the words _human beings_ to herself, her brow furrowing tensely – nearby, another tall girl with short black hair scowled in rage.

–Impossible.

But it's somehow true…

 _There's no way that they're NPCs_. I can't possibly think else.

At the same time - _how?_

From her position at nearly beside and a few steps ahead of me, Asuna turned her head to the right slightly – just enough that we both exchanged glances, eyes tight with concern. I knew that she was most likely thinking the exact same thing that I was.

It was then that the short man finally broke that uneasy silence. "Well, we sure as hell aren't titans."

His eyes were dangerously narrowed.

"What did you _think_ we were?"

– _This isn't making sense_ …

Asuna took half a step back, making a soft sound of shock that only I could hear. I could see her hand trembling slightly. "Eh?! – uhm…I mean –" She takes a moment to square her shoulders. "Sorry. You must understand how strange this is for us…well…"

I have no idea how she's managing to keep her composure so well. At that point, I was barely okay with just standing there watching this impossible thing unfold.

"I actually don't understand. After all, you're the ones who brought us here, aren't you?"

The short man had a deadly glare on his face, lacking heat but still appearing completely terrifying. _Just who is this guy?_

"What!? No!" Asuna raised her free hand into the air as if she were warding off the man's words, shaking her head quickly. "Ah-I mean…it's not like that. We didn't do anything."

The man's glare only intensified, and Asuna seemed to teeter on the verge of saying something else. Before she could – another shout rang out into the air.

" _Just stop it_!"

It was the _commander_ of that Army group. He had at some point ended up standing a distance from my left side, clutching his right hand in his left. Slightly hunched over, with his eyes burning in fury, he looked – murderous.

"Just stop – talking to them, as if they're like us! Can't you see they're not players?!" The commander jabbed a pointed finger straight at Asuna, snarling. "And you call yourself top players? It's obvious that they're – some sort of mob, just another thing out to kill us in this hell hole –"

"Hey! You'd better shut up –" "That's the second-in-command of the KoB you're talking to like that!" Indignant shouts from the other members of KoB rang out, while Asuna only turned silently to examine the commander with a scrutinizing gaze. Finally –

"…Don't worry." Asuna dismissed her guild members' concern with those few quiet words. The words that followed were as sharp as knives. "After all – if they _were_ some kind of mob who did want to kill us all, then you'd already be dead, wouldn't you, commander-san?"

The commander clenched his teeth with an even deeper scowl.

"Th-that's all the more reason –"

"–No." Asuna cut him off, shaking her head. "You've lost the right to make any decisions here. And you certainly won't be the one to decide whether or not we should condemn them without knowing the truth."

The conversation was obviously over. Asuna gave a slight nod to make her point before turning away, facing back towards the newcomers, while the commander glared at her in silent rage. Standing in quiet observation was the short man, slouched slightly as if he were bored. The others gathered behind him, however, were still standing as if on their toes, nervous and tense.

Meanwhile…something niggled at my thoughts, sharp and insisting. "Hey, Asuna," I said quietly, frowning. She looked over at me with a curious sound of acknowledgement, probably hearing the serious sound of my voice.

"…You're right. I've never seen a mob that makes a move to disarm only, not going any further even though they had the absolute advantage…"

I stared at the array of strange people before me, looking into their eyes with what was probably a little more intensity than what would have been proper anywhere else – in each one, I only saw real emotions and reactions. Even that man at the front – he glared straight back at me, indifference and aloofness written all over his features.

"…and what's more, there's no appearance of the red mob icon that would normally appear automatically. Not that a green player icon has appeared yet either…but that doesn't really mean anything, does it…" I uttered these words while still deep in thought.

The truth was, that nothing we could observe right now could really be used as any sort of evidence in either direction. It didn't make sense at all, so how could any sort of small details help to clear it up? This is a safe zone, so no mobs could possibly come here anyway. Meanwhile, why would anyone decide to log in as new players anyway – and then, how would they all log in all at once, in the strange uniform that wasn't presented as an option at the first setup screen?

The only way to figure out exactly what was going on was to stop making these assumptions, first.

And so, I lifted my head and raised my voice. "So, the only way to decide is to just ask. How did you get into Sword Art Online? And…why?"

* * *

The flashing of light bulbs still seems to follow Akihiko Kayaba as he makes his way from the press conference hurriedly. He'd never been present at one as big as this before - it isn't that it fazed him, just that it wasn't very pleasant. The constant stream of sharp questions, along with the endless clicking of cameras and the heat of the room...it just doesn't agree with him.

It was a necessary evil, at best. Irritating - and yet, Kayaba can't help but feel excited.

It's an underlying excitement, anticipation and eagerness that lies underneath his skin, always simmering. But now it feels slightly more satisfied. After all, his dream is swiftly on its way to being realized. He'd just announced to the press that his Nerve Gear has been successfully developed and tested, and that had gotten quite the reception. It is the gateway to his dream - and he'd announced that, too.

After finishing explaining about Nerve Gear and the Full Dive, Kayaba had proudly told the press that his new VRMMO was on its way; the development has already started and though it will take time, soon the game will be complete. Soon, his dream will become reality.

 _Reality...and yet, not reality,_ muses Kayaba with a slight smile.

It will be called Sword Art Online.

So caught up is he in his thinking that Kayaba walks straight down the hallway he is traversing, not once looking up to see a familiar face.

"It's been a while."

The voice, light and yet still slow and somehow weighted, is friendly and completely recognizable. Kayaba pulls up with a start, turning towards the voice - of course, there she is. Classy dark coat, a warm-looking hat, blonde hair braided over her shoulder, black-framed glasses low on her nose. She is the same.

Kayaba looks over her with a faint smile before he meets her eyes. "It has, hasn't it? Four years...you look the same as ever."

She nods slightly, eyes sharp. "You've done well for yourself. What do they call you now - Dr. Kayaba?"

He shakes his head, blinking slowly. He's never liked the title, not really. "You can't deny your own success. You've certainly done well - Dr. Sveta, quite the name."

Kayaba glances over her again, narrowing his eyes. Though I don t mean to be rude. But, what are you doing here?

She only gives him a hint of a smile. "I wanted to speak to you - about this new project of yours."

Sveta is a very straightforward person. It is something Kayaba has always liked about her - she isn't a social person, and neither is he. Ever since their college days together, studying computer programming and all the fields that it touched, they've gotten along well because they both respected boundaries. And beyond that, Kayaba has always thought that Sveta was a similar sort of person to himself.

At the moment - her words would have him slightly intrigued, except that he's aware of Sveta's capabilities. She is like him - a genius.

"I would ask how you know about all that, seeing as how I just released the information to the public moments ago," says Kayaba, tilting his head. "But I also know you, and so I'm not surprised. What did you want to talk about, specifically?"

Sveta's smile grows into something more substantial as she takes a step closer. There is a familiar light in her eyes - a glow of excitement and a desire for knowledge. "Let me see if I've got this right. You've already had success in developing your Nerve Gear, which is an instrument that will allow the user to experience a Full Dive - a completely immersive experience which places the consciousness inside a virtual reality. A remarkable invention - I'm sure you expect it to revolutionize the gaming industry."

She pauses, as if waiting for Kayaba's assertion that her words are correct. Kayaba nods once, smiling slightly. Of course she is - she's always been able to find information somehow, especially when she isn't supposed to. What it took to get that information didn t matter. After all, it was only ever in the honest pursuit of knowledge, just like a true scientist.

"It is incredible, but your Nerve Gear is just a tool, isn't it? Your true creation...will be a virtual reality." Kayaba shows no reaction except for his small smile at her words, and yet her own pleased grin only grows. She pushes her glasses up her nose and takes another step closer, lowering her voice. "An entire world...combined with the Full Dive experience, it will be truly incredible. I can see it now...it's what you've always dreamed of, isn't it?"

Kayaba freezes, narrowing his eyes. How could she know that?

He's never mentioned it to her, or to anyone for that matter. No one knew about his dream. They only knew pieces of it - the Nerve Gear, Full Dive, the possibility of a virtual reality. Together, those three things painted a fairly complete picture - but the way that Sveta spoke just now said that she knows more. _Always dreamed of,_ she said.

But still - Sveta always was strangely perceptive. Thinking about it, he really shouldn't be so surprised ...and if anything, she definitely doesn't know the _true_ extent of his dream.

He doesn't say anything, and she tilts her head at him in a strange way - it's almost coy.

"Well," says Kayaba. "You're not wrong. But, why do you want to talk about that?"

Sveta blinks. "I want to help you."

* * *

 **Hey, sorry this is taking so long! But in my defense, I originally wasn't planning on posting this story at all for a long while so...anyway. Yeah, backstory! That's going to be a pretty huge part of this story. As in, lots of angst will take place in real-world backstory scenes. You'll see...and I think most of you will approve. :) Let's hope for a quick update! Reviews will definitely affect how long that takes... ;)**

 **Oh and by the way - I've gotten questions about a few things, and here are the answers:**

 **Yes, Kirito and Asuna will be paired here. (Of course!)**

 **Yui may make an appearance, though so far I don't really have plans for it. That can change though. Your thoughts?**

 **Though this may be obvious at this point, (almost) all of the major characters from both animes will be significantly present here. Also, yes I will try my best to give both animes equal representation and screen (scene?) time.**

 **So...if you were wondering any of those things...hope that helps. Feel free to ask away!**


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